Tuesday, August 26, 2008

“I did not see the real significance of that wreck at once… Certainly the affair was too stupid… to be altogether natural…” (pg 20)

An example of foreshadowing, it is easy to find several examples of it throughout the novella since Marlow is telling his story from a looking-back standpoint. The fact that he mentions how unnatural the wrecking of the steamer lets the reader know that there is no way that it was unintentional.

EDIT: It is important that Conrad made it apparent that the wreck was intentional because it alludes to the fact Marlow's presence in the Congo is not exactly welcome or kosher. It foreshadows the future troubles Marlow will have with the Company members.

“He had a bit of white worsted round his neck-- Why? Where did he get it? Was it a badge-- an ornament-- a charm-- a propitiatory act? Was there any idea at all connected with it?” (pg. 17)

The white worsted Marlow speaks of is a piece of yarn but there seems to be no real explanation for why the native is wearing the yarn around his neck. What is truly interesting about his passage is why Marlow is so interested by why he is wearing the yarn around his neck. Marlow knows absolutely nothing about this man who is dying at his feet, but he stops to ponder (almost at length) why he is wearing a piece of yarn around his neck. Marlow seems horrified by the death around him but does little more than offering a biscuit he had in his pants, knowing that there is nothing he can do. Throughout the novella, Marlow is seen as apathetic at times but he always deeply introspective. Marlow is a laborer by trade but a thinker by nature.

“I heard men in that lonely ship were dying of fever at the rate of three a day…” (pg 14)

It may seem odd that men were dying of fever, but in the late 19th century (when Heart of Darkness takes place), fever was a serious risk especially on ships with little accessibility to medical supplies.

There is no definitive answer as to why ships are referred to as females, but there are several reasons that are generally accepted. The most agreed upon explanation is that since sailors were away from their homes and families for such long periods of time, they would form attachments to their ships. Other reasons for giving ships a female gender are that ships were often dedicated to women, ships were worshipped by the sailors and, of course, because only a strong man could really handle a ship.

“It’s queer how out of touch with truth women are. They live in a world of their own, and there had never been anything like it, and never can be.” (pg. 12)

It is easy to see how Heart of Darkness could be seen as a misogynistic book but ion reality, the women are rather influential. On the surface, almost all of the female characters are seen as frivolous or simply weak. Marlow’s aunt is seen as a foolish woman who doesn’t really know anything about the world, but it must be pointed out that if not for his aunt, Marlow would never have gotten the job working for the Company. In terms of Kurtz’s mistress, she is only seen briefly by Marlow but he hears talk of how much influence she seems to have over the crazed Kurtz as well.

In his meeting with his influential aunt, Marlow listens to her go on about how colonization is such a positive thing. This was a view shared by many Europeans. Bringing Christianity to the masses was thought to be a necessary service, something God wanted. Most people assumed the only reason that the “heathens” weren’t Christians was because they didn’t know any better. It was a good Christian’s job to bring the word of God into the jungle and educate the “ignorant millions”.

In French, the doctor is saying “calm, calm.” He has encouraged Marlow that he needs to be calm while in the Congo. Surprisingly, Marlow is able to keep composure in the face of much insanity while traveling into the jungle. It is hard to tell whether Marlow is simply a hard man or just remarkably serene in the face of danger and calamity.

An alienist is defined as a doctor who is accepted by a court as an expert on mental capability and competence who is called on to testify as to the sanity of a defendant. It makes sense for Marlow to ask the doctor this question because it would be the responsibility of the doctor to make sure that Marlow wasn’t crazy before he left for the Congo.

Again, Conrad hints to the fact that Africa changes the men, but it is an internal change that takes place. Yes, the men may fall sick or even die out in the jungle, but it is what changes within their mind that really matters. In addition, the Company doctor represents the futility of the company and colonization in general, much like the man attempting to put the fire out using a bucket that had a hole in it or the French boat shooting at nothing along the banks of the Congo River.

“’I am not such a fool as I look, quoth Plato to his disciples’…” (pg. 11)

Plato was a famous Greek philosopher and teacher who lived during the fourth century BCE (Before Common Era). Once a student of Socrates, Plato eventually left and started his own school to teach students, in keeping with the Socratic Method while diverting into his own method of teaching.

In Latin, morituri te salutant means “we who are about to die salute you.” While it has been widely regarded as a traditional salute given by gladiators to their emperor (Ave means “hail”), it was only uttered once by a group of slaves being forced to take part in a mock battle by Roman emperor Claudius. Marlow uses this bit of Latin in discussing the two women who received people into the Company’s waiting room but would probably never see them again.

“…only just as I began to think of getting out of her way, as you would for a somnambulist…” (pg. 9)

A somnambulist is simply a sleepwalker. Sleep walking occurs when someone is falling asleep but has not reached REM (rapid eye movement) sleep. They are not aware of their actions and will often not realize they are a sleepwalker until someone wakes up them while they are in the act. Sleepwalking is usually attributed to high levels of stress in the sleepwalkers.

EDIT: Conrad uses somnambulism as a kind of metaphor in Heart of Darkness. It could be said that Marlow (at one point) and many of the Company members (especially the pilgrims) are all sleepwalking-- they're going through the motions of life but seem to have no emotion or real depth to them.

“…I arrived in a city that always makes me think of a whited sepulcher.” (pg. 9)

A sepulcher is defined as being a tomb or a place of burial. It is fitting that Marlow sees the Belgian town (probably Brussels) where the Company is located as reminiscent of a tomb. While it is light and promising on the outside, much like a stone tomb may look, but within it contains horrors and darkness. In addition to a sepulcher being defined as a tomb, the phrase ‘whited sepulcher’ has now grown to mean a person who is inwardly wicked and devious but puts forth a visage of being holy or virtuous. This new meaning comes from a passage of the Bible concerning hypocrisy, one of the major themes in Heart of Darkness. The Company is a prime example of a whited sepulcher-- they pretend that they want to make the world a better place and helpfully colonize the Congo when all they really care for is finding (or taking by force) enough ivory to keep the money coming in.

The English Channel is a part of the Atlantic Ocean that reaches out between France and England. The Channel is roughly 350 miles long and joins with the North Sea at the east end of the Strait of Dover. The English Channel has long been important to the survival of England as it protected the island from foreign invaders. The most recent successful invasion over the Channel was William the Conqueror’s in 1066. From then, many invaders (including Napoleon and Hitler) have been deterred from attacking England because of the Channel.

“Afterwards, nobody seemed to trouble much about Fresleven’s remains, till I got out and stepped into his shoes.” (pg. 9)

There is no doubt that Heart of Darkness launches a fairly brutal attack on imperialism and all its hypocrisy. In the paragraph detailing Fresleven’s demise while stationed in the Congo, he goes from being a kind and gentle man to a seemingly crazed fool. What remains so striking about his death is the attitude from others in response to Fresleven being attacked by one of the natives in retaliation. As Marlow narrates “nobody seemed to trouble much”. The manager of the Belgian company obviously sees to no need to retrieve Fresleven’s body for his family, his only concern is to replace Fresleven quickly as possible to keep the ivory coming and everything in order. Already, the cold sense of unfeeling is apparent within Conrad’s novella concerning the imperialistic system and colonization of Africa.

“Fresleven was the gentlest, quietest creature that ever walked on two legs. No doubt he was; but he had been a couple of years already out there…” (pg. 8)

This is the first instance that Conrad really hints to the idea that Africa might be the cause of madness among men. The fact that Fresleven, Marlow’s predecessor, was once a kind man but had deteriorated into a crazed man who had attacked a native man speaks volumes about what time spent in the Congo might do to a man. However, it must to acknowledged that it may not have been Africa that changed Fresleven. When a man previously part of a “cultured civilization” with concrete rules is thrust into a savage place where he is the master of his own rules and laws, it may have a negative effect on his psyche. There is no way to tell whether Fresleven lost hold of his gentle nature because the jungle changed him or because his own fragile mind could not cope with what being alone in the jungle meant.

Snakes have long been a cornerstone of literary metaphors. Tainted with a decidedly negative connotation to their names, snakes have grown to represent evil and wickedness. This reputation stems from the Bible, where Satan took the form of a snake and convinced Eve to eat an apple from the Tree of Knowledge resulting in Adam and Eve’s expulsion from the Garden of Eden. Throughout literary and cinematic history, snakes have been a symbol of coercion and even sleazy charm. The fact that Conrad uses the metaphor of a snake to say that an idea had “charmed” Marlow only continues on in the same vein of casting snakes as persuasive devils.

Fleet Street is a famous street in London that has always been associated with the British Press. Once home to the legendary Knights Templar, during the early 16th century, Fleet Street became home to several publishers and their news papers. Now home to more lawyers than press houses, Fleet Street continues to live in in pop culture works, such as Evelyn Waugh’s Scoop and Sondheim’s dark musical Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.

EDIT: Since the Knights Templar were a secret society whose real activities are still under speculation, it could be seen as a parallel to the Company that Marlow works for while in the Congo-- they are very secretive and few people truly know what they do. Marlow works for them and even he is confused by his job and responsibilities.

“It had ceased to be a blank space of delightful mystery-- a white patch for a boy to dream gloriously over. It had become a place of darkness.” (pg. 7)

When Marlow sees a map of Africa in a shop window upon returning home from a six-year expedition to the East, he remembers that as a little boy he used to look at maps and dreamed of traveling to the places he saw. He remarks that when he was young, so much of the world was undiscovered and therefore a “blank space” for him to fill with imaginings. This is seen a positive thing, the lightness of the world and how it has yet to covered. Upon seeing a newer map of Africa years later, Marlow no longer sees that open lightness. Instead, African is now a “place of darkness”. Darkness plays an important role in Conrad’s novel, so much that it is part of the title. Marlow often mentions how he was headed for a “place of darkness” and this is always seen as a negative thing. In such a story, the darkness can refer to many things but in this sense, Conrad uses darkness to let the reader know that Marlow is headed for a sinister place.

“…a Buddha preaching in European clothes and without a lotus-flower…” (pg. 6)

Buddha is the corner-stone of a primarily-Eastern practiced religion known as Buddhism. Siddhartha Gautama is widely recognized as the Supreme Buddha and founder of Buddhism and it is his passed down oral teachings that form the rules of Buddhism. After his death, the image of Siddhartha was changed slightly and magnified. Siddhartha was raised as a prince and shielded from any knowledge of human suffering or pain. When he was about thirty, Siddhartha learned of death and eventually left his home to find enlightenment and live a simpler life. His life and teachings reached many people and he died (or simply moved onto a new stage of life, leaving his Earthly body behind) with many followers who continued to practice in the vein of his teachings.

EDIT: Conrad uses the image of Buddha to describe Marlow because he, much like the holy idea of Buddha, he has essentially lived many lives within one lifetime. As Marlow tells about the Congo, the reader gets the feeling that his entire story was (to him) forever ago. Buddha was regarded as a very peaceful being, someone who lived a long life and suffered to understand how other people felt. Marlow has been through "tough times" but now seems very at peace with his history and life, much like a modern Buddha.

“…for there is nothing mysterious to a seaman unless it be the sea itself, which is the mistress of his existence and as inscrutable as Destiny.” (pg. 5)

Again, Conrad uses personification in his novella. This time Conrad uses personification in terms of the sea. For centuries, men have been called to the sea and their ships by their “mistress”, the spirit of the open oceans and seas. In reality, there is no physical call or mistress that lives in the sea and commands sailors to travel, but the idea of a siren call from the ocean is an idea that has existed for more than a thousand years. Conrad knows this (as he was a sailor himself) and is therefore able to illustrate this yearning to sail in his depiction of Marlow.

“…Sir John Franklin… to the Erebus and Terror, bound on other conquests…” (pg. 4)

Sir John Franklin was a English explorer who lived during the late 18th century and early 19th century. His claim to fame was discovering the existence of the Northwest Passage-- a water passageway from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean through Canada. The Erebus and Terror were Franklin’s two ships used during his exploration of Canada. Both ships eventually became trapped in ice and the crew had to resort to cannibalism to survive. Neither ship ever returned to England.

“It had known and served all men of whom the nation is proud, from Sir Francis Drake… from the Golden Hind returning with her round flanks full of treasure…” (pg. 4)

Sir Francis Drake was a famous English navigator and sailor who lived during the 16th century. He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth I in 1581 and has long been looked upon by the British as a national hero. Drake was the second-in-command of the English naval fleet that defeated the Spanish Armada. The Golden Hind, originally named the Pelican, was Drake’s most famous and lauded ship. It was on while on expedition on the Golden Hind that Drake captured a Spanish ship laden with over 360,000 pesos.

“Only the gloom to the west, brooding over the upper reaches, became more somber every minute, as if angered by the approach of sun.” (pg. 4)

In this sentence, Conrad uses personification to create a more vivid image of the sunset around the boat. Personification is when an author takes something decidedly not-human (the weather, an object, etc.) and gives it human characteristics, such as emotion or appearance. Obviously, the “gloom” cannot actually be angry since it’s simply a part of the weather, but the reader can imagine the clouds far away over the horizon darkening like the expression of a person might darken when they became upset.

Gravesend is a town in Kent, England. The town is located on the south bank of the Thames, the primary river and historical water-way of England. Gravesend has several historical landmarks including a riverside fort built during Henry VIII’s time and one of the oldest surviving markets in England.

A yawl is simply a small, two-masted boat. These boats were favored by small crews or even single sailors since it was exceedingly easy to sail one without much help. The yawl that Marlow, the narrator and the other few men were one was probably of average size to capacitate four or five men.